Bust

Wall of the Ancestors - leftmost

Erection date: /9/1997

According to the plaque these are, clockwise from top left: Pete Pope, Tony O'Leary, Grinling Gibbons, Shirley Stewart.

Transpontine confirms that these heads are correctly identified, but gives Shirley's surname as Steward.

Site: Wall of the Ancestors (3 memorials)

SE8, George Beard Road, Aragon Tower, north-east (riverside) wall of

This tower was erected in the 1960s/70s as part of the Pepys Estate.

From the platform one could get some good pictures of these 16 heads, but the platform is inaccessible; you can go up the steps at the left but no further, hence our rather unsatisfactory photographs.

A small plaque at the left reads:
"Wall of the Ancestors" Pete Pope, Tony O'Leary, Dave O'Hara, Tommy Marin; Shirley Stewart, Grinling Gibbons, Metrina, Sir Francis Drake. www.Martin-Bond.Supanet.com

A small plaque at the right reads:
"Wall of the Ancestors" Debra Lee, Phineas Pett, Tsar Peter the Great, Dr Burnhart Gloss; Queen Elizabeth 1st, Olaudah Equiano, Michael Hamilton, Catherine of Aragon. Thanks to Berkeley Homes, Deptford Discovery Team, Sustrans.

We believe each plaque is attempting to identify the 8 characters nearest to it, left to right, top row first, then bottom row, but that there has been some confusion. Taking the plaques at face value (ha, ha): Phineas Pett, a 17th century shipwright is wearing a crown; the Tsar is looking rather humdrum and 20th century; Metrine (a girl's name currently popular in the black community) seems to be wearing a  medieval headdress, as does Debra Lee.

The faces were probably correctly identified when first erected but the building and this artwork have been "renewed" and in the process we think the heads suffered a random shuffle.

The block was erected in 1964 as social housing. The Wall of the Ancestors was added in 1997. In 2002-6 the Tower was renovated, reclad, extended upwards and sold as private flats. As part of this work the heads were reconfigured and new plaques provided. We've also read that the heads were recast at this time. See the original arrangement here. The heads are made of cream cast stone and each is about a metre high.

More information at Walking the Wall of Ancestors and Wall of the Ancestors, Deptford Strand.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Wall of the Ancestors - leftmost

Subjects commemorated i

Grinling Gibbons

Born Rotterdam. Wood carver and sculptor. Other works in London: a marble fon...

Read More

Tony O'Leary

Resident of the Pepys Estate, active in the community.

Read More

Pete Pope

The Picture source and Transpontine explain that Pope was a local activist an...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Wall of the Ancestors - leftmost

Created by i

Michael Bond (sculptor)

We can't identify this sculptor.  

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Wall of the Ancestors - leftmost

Also at this site i

Wall of the Ancestors - middling

Wall of the Ancestors - middling

According to the plaque these are, clockwise from top left: Dave O'Hara, Tomm...

Read More

Wall of the Ancestors - rightmost

Wall of the Ancestors - rightmost

According to the plaque these are, clockwise from top left: Debra Lee, Phinea...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Hoe Street - medallion of a hatless man

Hoe Street - medallion of a hatless man

E17, Hoe Street, 105

This shop front has, like a lot of shop fronts of this period, atop the flanking pillars, decorative capitals and corbels.  On this shop ...

Guildhall - Pepys bust

Guildhall - Pepys bust

EC2, Guildhall Yard, Guildhall

The arcade contains four modern busts, left to right: Pepys Cromwell Shakespeare Wren and a statue of Whittington to the left.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Morley mosaics - KEW - Hester Thrale

Morley mosaics - KEW - Hester Thrale

SE1, King Edward Walk, Morley College

These 10 portrait mosaics are the result of a project by Morley College to celebrate the achievements of significant women who have lived...

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Royal George bust

Royal George bust

W1, Goslett Yard, Royal George pub

So far (2011) the demolition and building works associated with Cross Rail have left this pub alone.

1 subject commemorated
Keats House at Guy's - bust 4 - Astley Paston Cooper

Keats House at Guy's - bust 4 - Astley Paston Cooper

SE1, St Thomas Street, 24-26, Keats House

Apologies for the lack of focus on this one - partly due to the carving being so weather-worn that our camera had trouble focussing (when...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

George Ryan at Nelson's Column

George Ryan at Nelson's Column

WC2, Trafalgar Square

This relief is "The Death of Nelson" by J. E. Carew, on the front (south) face of the base of Nelson's Column. It depicts a scene at the ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Coutts & Co Bank

Coutts & Co Bank

Founded by Scottish goldsmith, John Campbell, who set up shop at the sign of the Three Crowns on the Strand. In 1755 James Coutts married John Campbell’s granddaughter and the Bank became known as ...

Group, Commerce

1 memorial
King Charles II

King Charles II

Reigned: 1660 - 1685. Born at St James's Palace. The son of the beheaded Charles I, he was the king "restored" to the throne after the civil war. Married Catherine of Braganza in 1662 but she prod...

Person, Race Issues, Royalty, Seriously Famous

19 memorials
Lisa Pontecorvo

Lisa Pontecorvo

Killed at the junction of Madras Place and Holloway Road. Run over by a cement mixer while wheeling her bicycle across the Holloway Road. The traffic had stopped, she walked her bike across and the...

Person, Cyclist, Tragedy, Scotland

3 memorials
Richard Kindersley

Richard Kindersley

Sculptor and lettering artist, following his father's David's path.  Other London work includes the unusual 'Seven ages of man' sited in what must be one of Central London's grimmest locations at B...

Person, Sculpture

9 memorials